


bet on it

by shima_wishes



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Friends to Lovers, LadyNoir - Freeform, adrienette - Freeform, alya has a betting system, and i'm already excited, different chat powers for au purposes, nothing to do with high school musical okay, rivals au, this is a RIVALS to LOVERS AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 21:09:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7949263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shima_wishes/pseuds/shima_wishes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Her "No!" and his "Cataclysm!" reverberated through the buildings at the exact same moment as Chat Noir slammed his hand down on to the fluttering purple-black butterfly, just feet from her face. Her body slumped back down onto the tiles with another groan of exasperation as the butterfly disappeared in a small puff of purplish smoke.</em>
</p>
<p>Ladybug and Chat Noir are rivals. Alya and Nino run a candy betting system on which superhero will win the next akuma battle. And Marinette is done with pretty much everyone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	bet on it

**Author's Note:**

> i've been wanting to start writing this au for aaaages and i've finally gotten around to it. so here we go, hope you enjoy!

This was it. The final rush of adrenaline, the moment the entire battle and struggle so far had been leading up to. With the akuma located, there were just a few things Ladybug finally had left to do: capture it, destroy it, and purify it.  
  
And with no Chat Noir in sight, she had a good chance at doing so.  
  
She leaped forwards to the next building, considering her options. The akumatized victim laughed maniacally as it shot snakes from its hands towards her, and she effortlessly dodged every single one with barely even a thought. _Stupid power to have, anyway,_ she thought, eyeing the weighty-looking golden snake-like belt the akuma had slung across its waist. A snake hissed next to her ear as it caught her face, the teeth just grazing her cheek, and the akuma threw back its head to laugh again, raising its arms towards the sky and showering snakes down on to the streets below.  
  
 _Oooh. Bad mistake._  
  
Now was her chance. Her miraculous beeped urgently, having already used a failed lucky charm that Ladybug had tied on to the string of her yoyo to keep safe. She sprung into the air as high as she could, using the yoyo to hoist her up further and keep her going. Flipping so she was facing towards the ground she felt her hands make contact with the cold metal of the belt, immediately tightening her grip. The akuma shrieked in dismay as Ladybug pulled the cursed item up and over its head.  
  
It made a final desperate scrabble at the belt as it passed over its fingertips, but Ladybug gave the item one final yank that sent it flying out of the akuma's reach - but also out of her own hands. She gave the yoyo a quick tug, but it was too late, and the belt was sent soaring over her head and out of sight.  
  
There was a faint clanking sound as the belt landed on the stone rooftop of one of the next buildings along. "Crap!" Exclaimed Ladybug, struggling with the yoyo to flip herself over so that she could reach the belt faster, but the lucky charm was getting in her way. _I have to reach it before snake-lady does!_  
  
Suddenly the yoyo seemed to cooperate, and she spun around to land clunkily on the tiles of the next building along. The belt was there - right across the next alleyway - she could see it! And the akuma hadn't reached it yet. She breathed a secret sigh of relief and sprinted towards it, the yoyo zipping out of her hands again to pull her closer, faster; she had to move, the akuma was approaching from her right hand side and it was approaching fast, she was almost there-  
  
"Incomiiing!"  
  
She was almost knocked over as a black shape darted out of nowhere, throwing her off path and causing her to trip and fall head over heels on to the next building. Groaning and with a spinning head, she lay on a heap in the ground for a few moments, eyes screwed tightly shut.  
  
Until she realised exactly what was happening.  
  
Her "No!" and his "Cataclysm!" reverberated through the buildings at the exact same moment as Chat Noir slammed his hand down on to the fluttering purple-black butterfly, just feet from her face. Her body slumped back down onto the tiles with another groan of exasperation as the butterfly disappeared in a small puff of purplish smoke, which then dissipated into the air. As she watched with a tired acceptance, Chat Noir bounded over to catch the now non-akumatized snake girl as she dropped from the air like a rock, the snakes that were previously holding her up erased, just like the akuma. Then, he disappeared over the edge of the building with her in his steady arms.  
  
Ladybug closed her eyes and lay there as her miraculous beeped again, listening to the silence. She had just less than three minutes left. She could afford to wallow in her own frustration for a few moments before heading home.  
  
"Hey. You okay?"  
  
Eyes closed, body limp. She refused to allow Chat Noir to help her, after _that_. It would be way too embarrassing. And anyway, he was disturbing her.  
  
"Shit." he leaned closer, and she could practically feel his breath on her face. This was uncomfortable, to say the least. "Oh man, hey Ladybug, sorry for making you trip, are you hurt?"  
  
With a sigh, her eyes finally opened only to shoot a roll in his direction. "Apart from the fact that you turned up, I'm fine. In fact, if you hadn't turned up at all, I would be even better right now."  
  
"Well excuse me for trying to help. Need a hand?" he asked, standing and offering his arm for her to use as an aid for getting up, like a true gentleman. Glaring at him, she wanted to decline. But that would be petty, and Ladybug was not petty. So she took his hand and stood, brushing off her suit as if nothing much had happened.  
  
"I'm sorry, but did you just say _help?"_ snapped Ladybug, placing her hands on her hips and leaning slightly towards him. "You did anything _but_ help. You knocked me over. You took the akuma right as I was about to purify it. Your way of doing things, it's so... so cruel!"  
  
"Those things are evil, Ladybug!" Chat Noir hurled back. "They're cursed! In case you haven't noticed, they turn people into these _creatures_ , which means that _we_ have to step in and save the day. Getting rid of them is the only option, and if this is the way I have to do it, then this is the way I do it."  
  
She wanted to scream. She really, really wanted to scream. "First of all, Chat, you should stick to your own battles. That akuma was mine from the start. I did all the work-"  
  
"Hey, you don't stick to _your_ battles!"  
  
"That's because you're inhumane when it comes to these things! They're just butterflies. I can purify them and set them free. But you, you just... destroy them. I can't deal with that," said Ladybug. Her earrings beeped. "Which is why I feel that I have to step in."  
  
"You know, if they're just butterflies, Hawkmoth can use them again. And again. If I destroy them all then he'll eventually run out," Chat Noir told her, as if it were an easy solution to every problem in the world, crossing his arms.  
  
She rolled her eyes for the nth time since Chat Noir had arrived. "You know there's such a thing as breeding, right?" she asked, smirking slightly at the way he turned somewhat red at this realisation.  
  
"S-still! They're better off gone! And I'll believe in that until the bitter end."  
  
"Ugh, whatever. You're so infuriating," she muttered, and her earrings beeped once more. This was her final chance to leave, so she had to take it. She was sick of arguing with the stupid cat anyway. "Next time, don't interrupt my battles, and maybe our next encounter will be a little less hostile."  
  
She activated the lucky charm and then flicked her wrist, a faint "Don't count on it!" carrying on the wind behind her as she flitted away across the rooftops. Shaking her head, she took a long, deep breath as the wind whipped her head, trying to compose herself. _How humiliating. I hope Alya didn't catch that on video. But, knowing her..._  
  
Landing in a quiet alleyway, she detransformed and took a quick glance of her phone, Tikki peering over her shoulder. "I'm sorry that happened today, Marinette, but I'm sure things will go better next time. Now hurry up, if you go quickly you'll get back to school in time for the end of lunch!"  
  


* * *

  
Marinette arrived just in time for the end of lunch, as Tikki had anticipated, to...  
  
Complete and utter chaos.  
  
And her best friend was standing on a bench, right in the middle of it.  
  
"Alya! Hey, Alya!" Yelled Marinette. It was obvious that Alya wasn't going to hear her, so she began shoving her way through the rabble with the occasional 'sorry!' as she made her way towards her best friend. Once she was close enough to climb onto the bench and hiss directly into her ear, she tried again. "Alya! Are you serious? I thought we had discussed this."  
  
Alya just laughed, holding a bunch of small rectangular pieces of paper in one hand and a bucket full of sweets and chocolates in the other. "Girl, this is too much fun. And everyone loves it. Look at them! They're practically foaming at the mouth."  
  
"Is betting on the superheroes that save Paris every time there's a disaster really... fair?" asked Marinette tentatively, laughing awkwardly as Kim shouted something to her through a mouthful of hardboiled candies about how he _knew_ Chat Noir would win again soon and how it all finally payed off. "I mean, they're both trying their best for our city..."  
  
"Oh, don't worry about it. What harm can it do?" replied Alya, handing Juleka a couple of packets of gummy bears and stuffing the tickets with Juleka's name on them into her pocket. "I'm sure they would be flattered if they actually knew that there were so many people rooting for them."  
  
Marinette's eyes slid over the surging - but, thankfully, slowly depleting - crowd. "Yeah... or maybe they'd just be pissed. This stuff might be really serious to them."  
  
"Lucky they don't know then, isn't it?" Alya waved her paper hand dismissively. "Lighten up, Mari. It's all in good jest. Even _Adrien's_ in on it. Look, here he comes now!"  
  
The end of lunch was nearing rapidly and Alya was practically throwing peoples' prizes into their faces as they came by. She even crammed the pieces of paper towards Marinette to begrudgingly sort through, in an effort to push the queue through faster so that she wouldn't have to chase anyone down after school, or to fully ensure that nobody would be chasing her down after school either. Adrien was almost last in line, and Marinette was shocked and slightly disgruntled to see that he had thrown in _four_ tickets for Chat Noir. "Lucky bastard," she mumbled under her breath, handing the tickets over to Alya. He smiled up at her, emerald eyes twinkling. _Really, really attractive lucky bastard._  
  
"Damn, Adrien, that's a lot of rewards you're getting today! Bet it feels good considering you almost always vote for Chat and he almost always loses?" teased Alya, dropping a couple of bags of sweets into his hands along with two large chocolate bars. Marinette smiled slyly across at her friend. At least Alya was on her side.  
  
"I'll support Chat Noir until my dying breath," responded Adrien. He could be so overdramatic. They always joked about how it was his model side. "I only bet on Ladybug every now and then to spice things up a little."  
  
"I don't know why. Ladybug is obviously the best. Anyway, move on, sunshine boy! There are people other than you in this yard waiting for their traitorous prizes," Alya shooed him away with her hands, and he laughed, winking back at them as he walked away. Marinette felt her knees turn to jelly as the object of his flirtatious attention, and Alya ended up fastening her arm around her shoulder like a vice to prevent her from falling off the bench.  
  
"Come on, girl. Just a few more winners to go. Then lunch will be over and you can fawn over Adrien in class as much as you want."  
  
"I'm starting to reconsider my crush on him," muttered Marinette, recomposing herself and focusing back on her best friend. "I love the guy, but a Chat Noir supporter? Really? I mean, you've seen him fight! He tends to be ruinous and the way he gets rid of akumas is totally uncalled for. I'll never be able to wrap my head around why he doesn't just let Ladybug do that part instead."  
  
"Why don't you go talk to them about it, then? Make a strong enough point and maybe you could turn them around. Maybe they'd end up as partners instead."  
  
Marinette almost laughed. If only Alya knew. And _partners?_ The mere thought of it made her want to cringe her way into oblivion. As if she could ever be partners with someone so obnoxious and thoughtless. "Riiight. I doubt it. Maybe you could go talk to them instead, and see how that goes."  
  
"If only I could! But I don't think you could get those two to unnecessarily stay in the same room as each other for more than thirty seconds," laughed Alya, looking into the finally empty bucket. She swung it upside down and carefully positioned it on top of Marinette's head. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before falling into fits of giggles. Eventually, Alya picked up the bucket again and slapped her best friend on the back. "Come on, Mari, the bell's gonna go soon. Business is over for the day!"

**Author's Note:**

> honestly at this point i'm just kinda winging it but i hope anyone who made it this far liked it enough to stick around!  
> thanks for reading :D  
> [tumblr - l-adrien](http://l-adrien.tumblr.com)


End file.
